This Veterans Day, Don’t Take Our Country, Or Those Who Protect It, For Granted
I carry a simple photograph in my wallet. The picture was taken in early 2004 and at first glance it is not a remarkable image. But the story behind it is profound. The image is of a group of men sitting around a conference table deliberating the mundane items of local governance. Those men were […]
By Phil Williams
Un-Earmarking Is a Common-Sense Solution to Budget Issues
Budget cuts. Tax increases. Agency restructurings. We’ve heard and seen it all over the past several months since the Legislature first came to order in early March. Since that time, there has been a regular session and two special sessions. Throughout each, a lot of ideas were bounced off the wall – some stuck, […]
By Cam Ward
Don’t Punish Rural Alabama Because of Waste in Montgomery
All too often, the professional bureaucrats in Montgomery ignore the people in rural Alabama. The recent closure of driver’s license offices in our rural counties across the state is just another example of these Montgomery bureaucrats sticking it to rural folks. On October 1st, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) – an agency the […]
By Greg Albritton
Sticking to Your Word
Over the years, to bear the weight of lacking and reduced Education Trust Fund dollars, educators and support personnel have had to cover higher healthcare costs out of their own wallets, weather changes in retirement, withstand cuts to their classrooms, transportation, and other foundational program needs, and forego much needed salary increases. Like our […]
By Gerald Dial
The Legislature Should Pass a Budget That Fully Funds Prison Reform
The biggest threat to public safety looms over our great state of Alabama like a storm cloud. Our prison system is grossly over capacity, doesn’t rehabilitate those who need it the most, and places a burden on our parole officers and other officials who can’t handle the unnecessarily high-intake volume. The good news is that […]
By Cam Ward
Finding a New Way to Budget is Key for Alabama’s Future
The Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist transcends time and was a catalyst for social change in its day. As we enter the second special session of the Alabama Legislature to focus on the anemic and malnourished General Fund budget, I am reminded of a specific, iconic scene from Dickens’ novel. Young Oliver underfed and with […]
By Phil Williams
Education is an Investment in Alabama’s Future
In the special session that starts on Tuesday, Governor Bentley and the legislature will continue to work to pass a General Fund (GF) budget before the start of the 2016 fiscal year on October 1st. The challenges facing the GF budget are exploding costs associated with Medicaid, prisons, mental health, public safety and human […]
By Trip Pittman
Technical Jobs Offer Young People a Chance at Earned Success
With Labor Day around the corner, we need to have a serious conversation about job opportunities. Work is essential to what economist Arthur Brooks calls “earned success.” In America, we don’t celebrate when more and more people rely on food stamps to get by. Temporary government assistance may be necessary if a person or family […]
By Clay Scofield
Be Part of the State Budget Solution
Unlike the out-of-control federal government in Washington, DC, Alabama has a constitutional mandate to balance the budgets, which is exactly what the Governor and this Legislature intend to do. That means legislators have to work hard every year to guarantee that expenditures do not exceed revenues, just like you do every month for your own […]
By Greg Reed
Judicial Retirement Reform Equals Big Savings for Taxpayers
Republicans in the state legislature are committed to saving money for Alabama’s taxpayers. Reforms to teacher and state employee retirement plans were made in 2012 that will save the taxpayers billions of dollars over the next thirty years and beyond. This year, the Legislature passed a landmark reform of the retirement programs for district attorneys, […]